Reflexiones sobre la lengua del drama satírico

Abstract

The language of satyr-drama occupies an intermedíate position between the language of tragedy and that of comedy. Generally speaking, the language of satyr-drama is very cióse to the language of tragedy, much closer to it than to the language of comedy. There are also, however, sharp differences between the language of satyr drama and that of tragedy. Four of these, I would argüe, can serve as criteria for distinguishing between the two genres. These are: 1. The language of satyr drama is much more tolerant of archaisms, homerisms, hapax legomena, rare words and obsolete or poetical forms than the language of tragedy. 2. There are many vulgarisms in the language of satyr drama, a feature that is entirely absent from the language of tragedy. 3. The percentage of colloquialisms is considerably higher in the language of satyr drama than in the language of tragedy. 4. There are in the satyr drama some comic strategies such as «verbal accumulation» that are totally absent from the language of tragedy.